Killer Colin Ash-Smith may never be released from prison after he was refused leave to appeal his conviction for the murder of schoolgirl Claire Tiltman.

Three judges at London's Court of Appeal dismissed his application in a ruling which took less than 10 minutes to deliver.

The former Swanscombe milkman was not in the metal-barred dock at the Royal Courts Of Justice building in The Strand to hear his fate.

Effectively, the decision of Lord Justice Davis, Mr Justice Warby and the Recorder of Maidstone, Judge Jeremy Carey, means the 47-year-old faces the rest of his life behind bars.

When jailed last year for the brutal stabbing of 16-year-old Claire in 1993 he was given a minimum term of 21 years.

But Ash-Smith was already serving a life sentence for two other similar vicious knife attacks on women in 1988 and 1995.

The ruling not to even allow him leave to appeal is now the end of the road for any legal challenge.

Speaking outside the court, Claire's childhood friends, who formed a Justice for Claire campaign, stood together as one of the women, Joanne Roberts, from Gravesend, spoke of their delight and relief at the outcome.

The 38-year-old, who knew Claire from their days at Dartford Grammar School, said: "We have justice for Claire and her parents and a very dangerous man will stay in prison.

"Our thanks go to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service for supporting us throughout."

The hunt for Claire's killer was one of the biggest murder investigations in Kent Police's history and involved the taking of more than 2,500 statements in the following months and years as the case remained unsolved.

Ash-Smith was eventually charged in February last year following a cold case review by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

During Ash-Smith's trial at the Inner London Crown Court in Southwark, the jury heard not only about his previous convictions but also horrific details contained in hand-written notes and a diary police found at his home after the 1995 attack.

In them, he wrote how the earlier near-fatal stabbing of his first victim was "95% successful" and his "masterpiece"

Ash-Smith also wrote that he threatened his victim he would "kill a schoolgirl".

The notes, which he called his "assault plans", also gave accounts of how he stalked women and planned other attacks, including one on a woman waiting at Swanscombe train station.

David Nathan QC, for Ash-Smith, argued in his application to be granted leave to appeal that the jury should not have heard such "repulsive" detail.

He said they were "more prejudicial than probative" and contained "bizarre sexual fantasy".

However, Richard Barton for the prosecution, said the notes of both actual and planned attacks were genuine and, when added to the previous convictions, gave a "true picture".

Giving their ruling, Lord Justice Davis said the plans and diary were of "significant relevance" as they showed Ash-Smith to be someone who stalked women and was a careful and meticulous planner.

He added: "All this evidence went to the identification of Colin Ash-Smith as the murderer of Claire Tiltman and, in such circumstances, taking the view that we do, we refuse this application."

Claire, who was an only child and lived with her parents in Woodward Terrace, Horns Cross, had celebrated her 16th birthday just four days before she was brutally murdered.

She was walking to a friend's home less than a mile away in Riverview Road, Greenhithe, when Ash-Smith repeatedly stabbed her.

At his trial, prosecutor Brian Altman QC said the schoolgirl was the target of a "completely senseless slaughter".

However, Ash-Smith's legal team argued that the case against him amounted to nothing more than "guesswork".

Sadly, Claire's parents Lin and Cliff died without ever seeing justice for their daughter.
However, seven of her friends from childhood and school started a Justice for Claire campaign after Cliff died in 2012.

Four of the officers involved in the investigation into Claire's murder have been commended by the Chief Constable of Kent Police, Alan Pughsley, for their "tremendous drive and tenaciousness".